MendocinoArts - Mendocino Art Center
MendocinoArts - Mendocino Art Center
MendocinoArts - Mendocino Art Center
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Spring 2012<br />
COMPLIMENTARY<br />
<strong><strong>Mendocino</strong><strong>Art</strong>s</strong><br />
ART AND CULTURE IN MENDOCINO COUNTY<br />
PUBLISHED BY THE MENDOCINO ART CENTER
Taste of<br />
Chocolate, Wine & Ale<br />
Saturday, May 26, 1:00pm – 4:00pm<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> center<br />
Join us for the afternoon!<br />
Fine Wine • Micro-Brewed Ales • Decadent Chocolate • <strong>Art</strong>isanal Treats • Fabulous Silent Auction<br />
Advance Tickets: $25 u At the Gate: $30<br />
A fundraiser for the <strong>Mendocino</strong> Music Festival and <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
707 937-4041<br />
www.mendocinomusic.com<br />
707 937-5818, ext. 10<br />
www.<strong>Mendocino</strong><strong>Art</strong><strong>Center</strong>.org
Blooming Every Day!<br />
www.gardenbythesea.org | 18220 North Highway 1, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 | 707-964-4352<br />
GALLERY OF DECORATIVE<br />
AND FINE ARTS<br />
For the <strong>Art</strong> Collector<br />
and the Craft Lover<br />
45052 Main Street, <strong>Mendocino</strong>, CA<br />
707 937-3132 • www.thehighlightgallery.com
The <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> Needs You!<br />
Support the <strong>Art</strong>s by becoming a Member,<br />
and give yourself the gift of art…<br />
Become a <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> member – and a “MAC Insider” – with newly<br />
added benefits for joining, and please consider joining at the highest possible<br />
level. Your membership directly supports the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>, bringing<br />
vital cultural programs to the community, including unique gallery shows, youth<br />
programs, low-cost open studios, art fairs and musical concerts, world-class<br />
art workshops taught by some of the country’s finest instructors, exhibition<br />
opportunities for local and national artists, and <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s magazine.<br />
Benefits at all levels:<br />
❖ 10% discount on each workshop registration. 15% discount for<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> County MAC members.<br />
❖ <strong>Art</strong>ist exhibit opportunities in the gallery and gallery shop.<br />
❖ Special artist invitations to participate in Members’ Juried Exhibits.<br />
❖ Members only discounts at participating businesses — lodging, art supplies, etc.<br />
❖ Mailing of MAC publications and event information.<br />
❖ Waiver of $25 per workshop non-refundable registration fee.<br />
❖ Discounts at Suburban Propane, CALSTAR and REACH.<br />
For details:<br />
www.<strong>Mendocino</strong>art<strong>Center</strong>.org/membership.html<br />
MeMBersHip Categories:<br />
individual MeMBer:<br />
$50<br />
All of the above.<br />
HouseHold<br />
MeMBer (maximum two<br />
members): $90<br />
All of the above.<br />
student (12+ with<br />
student ID): $25<br />
All of the above.<br />
senior (70+): $25<br />
All of the above.<br />
supporter: $150<br />
All of the above and recognition<br />
in a <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
publication.<br />
sustaining: $250<br />
All of the above and invitations<br />
to special gallery events.<br />
patron: $500<br />
All of the above and your<br />
name on a gallery plaque.<br />
CHaMpion: $750<br />
All of the above and a commemorative<br />
tile with wording<br />
of your choice on the Zacha<br />
Tile Walkway.<br />
Business partner:<br />
$100<br />
Listing on the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong><br />
<strong>Center</strong> Web site.<br />
Business WeB site<br />
sponsor: $500<br />
Listing on the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong><br />
<strong>Center</strong> Web site home page.<br />
ZaCHa legaCY soCietY:<br />
$2,500 and $1,000 annual<br />
gifts<br />
All of the above and name<br />
included on the annual Zacha<br />
Legacy Society wall; plus invitations<br />
to events with VIP<br />
privileges and invitations to<br />
enticing quarterly member<br />
evenings.<br />
Sign me up to be a <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
Member today!<br />
❏ Individual $50<br />
❏ Household $90<br />
❏ Student $25<br />
❏ Senior $25<br />
❏ Supporter $150<br />
❏ Sustaining $250<br />
❏ Patron $500<br />
❏ Champion $750<br />
❏ Business Partner $100<br />
❏ Business Web Site<br />
Sponsor $500<br />
❏ Zacha Legacy Society<br />
$1,000<br />
❏ Zacha Legacy Society<br />
$2,500<br />
Name<br />
Address<br />
City<br />
State<br />
E-mail<br />
Zip Phone<br />
___ Check (payable to <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>)<br />
___ Bill my q Visa q MasterCard<br />
Billing Name<br />
Billing Address<br />
Account #<br />
Authorized Signature<br />
Exp. Date<br />
Mail to: <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
P.O. Box 765<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong>, CA 95460<br />
2 <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s Magazine
Table of Contents<br />
8<br />
23<br />
6<br />
10<br />
26<br />
Published by the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
Vol XLIII, No 1, April 2012<br />
Editorial: From Our Board President 5<br />
Tom Macomber: History Transformed into <strong>Art</strong> 6<br />
Lisa Orselli: Ancient Medium, Modern Sensibility 8<br />
<strong>Art</strong>ists in Residence 10<br />
True Colors: Natural Pigments and Paints 12<br />
April–June Workshops at MAC 14<br />
Meet Lindsay Shields, Executive Director at MAC 16<br />
Let’s Meet Some of MAC’s Instructors:<br />
Seamus Berkeley, Bill van Gilder, Deborah Lozier,<br />
Robert Rhoades and Nick Taylor 19<br />
Encaustics: A Hot Topic 23<br />
20 th Annual Garden Tour 26<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> & Lake County Gallery Guide 30<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> & Lake County Restaurant Guide 38<br />
Gallery of <strong>Art</strong>ists 42<br />
Calendar of Events 46<br />
Poetry by Armand Brint 48<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s promotes the arts by offering space to artists, writers, craftspeople and performers<br />
and by providing information on arts and entertainment in <strong>Mendocino</strong> County. Submissions of unsolicited<br />
non-fiction articles, photographs or artwork for consideration in <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s must include a<br />
SASE or we cannot be responsible for their return. We welcome announcements of upcoming events<br />
to be included as space permits.<br />
Spring 2012 3
<strong>Mendocino</strong> County Museum<br />
Discover unique artifacts and exhibits that reflect<br />
our heritage: Frolic Shipwreck, Wine History,<br />
Stagecoaches and Wagons, Traveling Exhibits and<br />
much more.<br />
SPECIAL EXHIBITS: 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge<br />
Photographs of Local Railroads from the Early 1900s<br />
ROOTS OF MOTIVE POWER, Inc.<br />
See restored and working steam<br />
machines:<br />
· Historic Logging Equipment<br />
· Steam Engines and Caboose<br />
Browse in our Museum Shop<br />
400 East Commercial Street, Willits, CA<br />
Call 707-459-2736 for more information<br />
Email us at Museum@co.mendocino.ca.us<br />
Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00am–4:30pm<br />
www.<strong>Mendocino</strong>Museum.org<br />
4 <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s Magazine
<strong><strong>Mendocino</strong><strong>Art</strong>s</strong><br />
ART AND CULTURE IN MENDOCINO COUNTY<br />
PUBLISHER<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong><br />
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER<br />
Mike McDonald<br />
EDITOR<br />
Peggy Templer<br />
ART DIRECTION / GRAPHIC PRODUCTION<br />
Elizabeth Petersen, RevUp Creative Media<br />
SALES<br />
COAST: Steven P. Worthen – 707 964-2480,<br />
707 813-7669<br />
INLAND: Jill Schmuckley – 707 391-8057<br />
LAKE COUNTY: Linda Kelly – 707 367-9038<br />
GALLERY Of ARTISTS ADS: David Russell – 707 513-6015<br />
SPRING DISTRIBUTION – 15,000<br />
SUMMER 2012 DEADLINE – April 13, 2011<br />
MENDOCINO ART CENTER STAff<br />
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Lindsay Shields<br />
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Mike McDonald<br />
EDUCATION DIRECTOR: Karen Bowers<br />
GALLERY DIRECTOR: Jessica Jade<br />
BOOKKEEPER: Virginia Neira<br />
REGISTRAR/CASHIER: Michele Cheyovich,<br />
Kath Disney Nilson<br />
MASTER ARTIST STUDIO INSTRUCTOR: Blago Stojanovski<br />
PROGRAM COORDINATORS:<br />
Ceramics/<strong>Art</strong>ists in Residence — Derek Hambly<br />
fiber <strong>Art</strong>s — Nancy Collins<br />
fine <strong>Art</strong> — Arlene Reiss<br />
Jewelry — Nancy Gardner<br />
Sculpture — Gert Rasmussen<br />
fACILITIES: Gabe Arreguin<br />
MENDOCINO ART CENTER BOARD Of DIRECTORS<br />
PRESIDENT: Liliana Cunha<br />
VICE PRESIDENT: Patrick Keller<br />
TREASURER: John Cornacchia<br />
SECRETARY: Dale Moyer<br />
Chuck Bush<br />
Janis Porter<br />
Eileen Robblee<br />
Nick Schwartz<br />
Marge Stewart<br />
Bob Treaster<br />
Lucia Zacha<br />
MENDOCINO ART CENTER<br />
45200 Little Lake Street • P.O. Box 765<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong>, CA 95460<br />
707 937-5818 • 800 653-3328<br />
fAX: 707 937-4625<br />
register@mendocinoartcenter.org<br />
www.<strong>Mendocino</strong><strong>Art</strong><strong>Center</strong>.org<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> Mission Statement:<br />
The mission of the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> is to be a vital<br />
cultural resource, providing a broad range of the highest<br />
quality educational and exhibition opportunities in the arts<br />
to all people.<br />
founded by Bill Zacha in 1959 as a nonprofit organization<br />
to support, foster, advance and promote artistic awareness<br />
and participation.<br />
COVER IMAGE: Lisa Thorpe, Tree of Life, 8”x10”,<br />
collaged map, stamps, art papers on wood, encased with<br />
a skin of encaustic medium topped with gold leaf.<br />
From Our Board President…<br />
SPRING 2012<br />
t’s spring! A time of new growth on the planet and so it is with<br />
I the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>. We are delighted that Lindsay Shields has agreed<br />
to join our staff permanently and is our new Executive Director.<br />
With her leadership, the Zacha Legacy Society has come into being<br />
and in the summer we will be honoring our first inductees. A grantseeking<br />
program started by Lindsay during her consultancy with us is<br />
moving forward. Most recently we received a $1,000 grant from the<br />
Rotary Club of <strong>Mendocino</strong> for a new computer for the gallery. We<br />
are very grateful for the continued support of our local businesses<br />
and Rotarians.<br />
The most exciting news in the education department is that this<br />
summer we will be offering five classes for academic credit through<br />
Woodbury University in Southern California. Each class is comprised<br />
of two workshops. Accreditation is provided by NASAD (National<br />
Association of Schools of <strong>Art</strong> and Design) and WASC (Western<br />
Association of Schools and Colleges). These ten workshops will<br />
still be available as stand-alone offerings to those who do not desire<br />
credit. An additional cost will be added to the class fee for those<br />
attending for credit. More information regarding these classes is<br />
available in our summer catalog and on both the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> Web site<br />
(www.mendocinoartcenter.org) and the Woodbury University Web<br />
site (www.woodbury.edu).<br />
If you plan to be in <strong>Mendocino</strong> for Memorial Day weekend come<br />
to the “Taste of Chocolate, Wine and Ale” event. The <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong> is<br />
partnering with the <strong>Mendocino</strong> Music Festival to bring to town<br />
purveyors of the best wines, chocolate, ales and artisanal foods for<br />
your tasting pleasure. You can’t miss us – we’ll be in the Festival tent<br />
on the front lawn of the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>. Visit our Web site for updates<br />
on this and other new events.<br />
I hope you will join us for what promises to be a very exciting<br />
year of new class offerings and events.<br />
~ Liliana Cunha<br />
Board President<br />
Spring 2012 5
Above: Tom Macomber with his Western Bench<br />
sculpture. Anna Macomber photo.<br />
Tom Macomber:<br />
History t r a n s f o r m e di<br />
By Jessica Jade Norris<br />
n t o <strong>Art</strong><br />
It’s a cold, crisp morning driving out to<br />
Kelseyville. Wide open spaces with oak trees sit next to<br />
bits of industry and family farms. A loaded hay truck<br />
and include just about everything you could imagine – old<br />
wood burning stove parts, wagon wheels, water pumps,<br />
rock crushers, buggy axles, mining carts, an assortment<br />
pulls out in front of me and escorts me down the road of gears, brackets, horseshoes, recycled woods, a pulley<br />
to the Macomber ranch, while tiny wisps of hay collide driven drill press, and more.<br />
with my windshield. The property is a peaceful, country Down the hill within walking distance is Tom’s<br />
setting, decorated with strategically<br />
workshop, and his area of<br />
placed farm equipment, historical<br />
inspiration. The entire outside<br />
findings, and of course, Tom<br />
space is lined with tables and flat<br />
Macomber’s fantastically whimsical<br />
surfaces that have piles of sorted<br />
art sculptures. The road curves<br />
metals for welding. It’s an incredible<br />
around a large red barn and riding<br />
feeling to see it all as a group and<br />
area, where Tom’s wife, Anna,<br />
realize how important these parts<br />
keeps her horses. Further up the<br />
once were. Tom takes scraps and<br />
hill is the absolutely gorgeous<br />
pieces of what has been left behind<br />
home that took them eight years<br />
and welds them back together in<br />
to complete.<br />
imaginative ways that are fun and<br />
Tom is standing outside of<br />
comical. He explains, “The process<br />
the garage in front of his Model<br />
of creating my metal sculptures<br />
A car, and greets me with warmth<br />
begins when I am mentally and<br />
and enthusiasm. Without delay,<br />
physically rested. I am usually<br />
we walk around the yard for the<br />
inspired by something I want to<br />
tour and Tom explains to me where<br />
create. I sketch it out or find a<br />
all of the various yard treasures<br />
picture and then go to my scrap<br />
came from. Most of his antique<br />
collectibles are from Lake County<br />
Handcrafted Faucet Flower Bouquet.<br />
iron (pile) inventory. Sometimes,<br />
I get inspired just by searching<br />
Anna Macomber photo.<br />
Top: Discarded scrap metal that Tom<br />
turns into his one-of-a-kind sculptures.<br />
Above: Grasshopper Wine Holder.<br />
Larry Wagner photo.<br />
6 <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s Magazine
through the misfit metal and come<br />
Middletown. Collecting, refinishing,<br />
up with some really great original<br />
and appreciating antiques was a<br />
creations. Putting it all together, I start<br />
favorite pastime. They purchased<br />
at the bottom and work my way up. I<br />
the Macomber Ranch property in<br />
cut and pre fit all pieces then grind all<br />
1980 and completed their dream<br />
the rust and dirt to bare metal where I<br />
house just in time to welcome their<br />
need to weld. Sharp and rough edges<br />
son, Forrest.<br />
must be ground smooth. I use a MIG<br />
Tom had lots of work in<br />
wire welder that has gas and argon mix<br />
carpentry over the years and was<br />
and an oxy-acetylene torch to heat and<br />
running a successful business.<br />
bend the metal. Occasionally I use<br />
Everything changed in 1996, when<br />
an air plasma cutter. Once the basic<br />
Tom survived a near fatal heart attack<br />
sculpture is created then I look for<br />
and radical surgery to repair the<br />
interesting items to dress it up and add<br />
damage. After 30 years of carpentry,<br />
to its character. When I am satisfied<br />
he was forced to retire. With lots of<br />
I give the bare metal a salt bath to<br />
promote rust so the welds match the<br />
Tom at work in his shop. Anna Macomber photo.<br />
support from his family, he began<br />
his cardiac rehabilitation and slowly<br />
whole sculpture. When dry, I put a<br />
started to get his life back. Not his<br />
protective finish coat to seal and give the piece a finished old life, but a new one, with a greater appreciation for the<br />
look. Then the fun part, picking a name and giving the smaller things. He had accomplished everything that he<br />
creature life!”<br />
had wanted to do in his trade. Now he had to “throw his<br />
Tom was born in Fresno in 1941, and was raised with watch away.” No more stress or fast paced living.<br />
his two brothers in Clearlake and Berkeley. He graduated With this new lifestyle came a new philosophy and<br />
from Berkeley High in 1960 and spent six months in the the fulfillment of his dream to create sculptural art. “I<br />
Army Reserve, after which he moved back to Clearlake. just love creating, it’s a great feeling. I believe that we all<br />
At that time, they were just starting the Konocti Harbor have our niche, and we can find that niche if we just open<br />
Inn, and his soon-to-be boss asked him, “Can you read a up our mind. Since rehabilitation, I don’t look at time as<br />
tape measure?” He was a quick study and got a union job money anymore. I don’t keep track of my time when I am<br />
doing commercial and industrial carpentry.<br />
working on my art. I laugh and have fun with it. We are<br />
Tom and Anna were married in 1975. They were only here for a short while.”<br />
a great team and built a successful business together Tom is 70 years old and still enjoys making his art. His<br />
buying and selling fixer-upper houses. They also bought work is in private and corporate collections all over the<br />
and sold antiques, and had their own antique shop in world, and can be seen at the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>.<br />
Left to right: Horn Director. Larry Wagner photo. Kenmore Kat – inspired by an old Kenmore sewing machine. Anna Macomber photo.<br />
Three Stooges Shovelback Bird. Larry Wagner photo.<br />
Spring 2012 7
Ancient Medium,<br />
Modern Sensibility<br />
By Michael Potts<br />
Lisa orselli fires up her torch<br />
and points the hot blue flame at her latest<br />
work. “Fuse it or lose it,” she murmurs. A<br />
shimmer of liquidity passes across the waxy<br />
surface, and the power of the medium becomes clear. Lisa<br />
digs down through the beeswax, chips of wax flying, to reveal<br />
colors from below, then re-torches to smooth and blend.<br />
“In ‘regular life’ I plan,” Lisa confesses, “but with encaustics,<br />
I can challenge myself to make jumps and see what<br />
happens. Meditation, part of my yoga practice, has taught<br />
me to see the space between myself and my thoughts, and<br />
that helps me keep the critical voice at bay as I work.”<br />
<strong>Art</strong> entered Lisa’s life in ninth<br />
grade. “My best friend and I had<br />
a wonderful teacher who encouraged<br />
experimentation with blind<br />
contour drawing [sketching without<br />
looking at the paper], collage…<br />
I was drawn into the practice<br />
of making art, right up until<br />
my work became ‘not right’ during<br />
life drawing class in college.”<br />
<strong>Art</strong> faded behind life, and Lisa<br />
came away from University of the<br />
Pacific with a degree in English.<br />
In her twenties, she began her<br />
life-long practice of yoga.<br />
“I found my art again when<br />
Before and After, 12"x12", encaustic on panel with<br />
encising. Above left: Red Cosmos, 12"x12", panel,<br />
encaustic and paper.<br />
my kids were in junior high. I took a class at CCAC from<br />
another wonderful teacher, Liz Sher. She told us not to<br />
erase and never let us crumple, but urged us to try to do<br />
more with whatever wasn’t working, to resolve it out of<br />
chaos.<br />
“In 1990, when my daughter was 17, she and I went to<br />
study in Florence for half a year, she at the American High<br />
School, and I at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute. When<br />
I found the painting class full, I decided to study printmaking<br />
in a studio once used (we were told) by Donatello<br />
with another wonderful teacher,” Peruvian born Lucy<br />
Jochamowitz. “She taught us to embrace our mistakes,”<br />
Lisa reminisces. “I discovered that<br />
print-making, scratching through<br />
shellac onto a metal sheet, enhances<br />
otherwise sketchy drawing skills.”<br />
Back in the U.S. with a new medium<br />
to explore, Lisa completed her<br />
BFA at CCAC and joined a group<br />
of artists sharing gallery space. She<br />
continued to visit <strong>Mendocino</strong> for<br />
classes at the <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>, where<br />
she enjoyed staying in and walking<br />
the village while immersing<br />
herself in art. When her husband<br />
retired in 1997, they relocated. “I<br />
felt uprooted,” Lisa remembers.<br />
“I had to leave my press behind,<br />
8 <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s Magazine<br />
Larry Wagner photos.
Keeping Track, 9"x12", encaustic on panel with scraping and<br />
layering.<br />
along with my gallery group, all my friends, and the<br />
buzz of my birthplace. Berkeley is a hard place to leave.”<br />
Classes with Bob Rhoades at College of the Redwoods,<br />
and Bill Martin’s weekly figure drawing studio at the <strong>Art</strong><br />
<strong>Center</strong>, allowed Lisa to “stay oiled,” but it was yoga that<br />
provided perspective. In 2000, a fellow yogi suggested<br />
teacher training classes with noted instructor Rodney<br />
Yee. “At the class, every time I lay on my back, I started<br />
crying,” Lisa recalls. “Yoga works with our bodies, but its<br />
practice opens up much more. During meditation, I could<br />
watch my mind jumping hither and yon. Thus I came to<br />
understand that a discerning mind is great in art and life,<br />
but a critical mind is a hindrance. Each of my teachers<br />
offered the same wisdom: persevere through the rough<br />
spots, breathe, stay focused and calm, and keep at it until<br />
the chaos resolves.”<br />
In 2004, a friend urged Lisa to try an encaustics class<br />
with Sandi Miot, a Novato-based visual artist whose<br />
work seeks “to make order out of chaos.” Lisa remembers<br />
thinking, “This is fun! The techniques mimic printmaking.<br />
Encaustics is a seductive medium: you build and<br />
fuse, scratch through it, stick things in it... Of course,” she<br />
adds, “once you start, challenges emerge. There’s technology<br />
– heaters, tools, waxes, pigments. I still feel like I am<br />
just beginning.”<br />
Lisa teaches yoga classes and takes courses while<br />
pursuing her encaustic work. “I understand now the<br />
importance of ‘practices’ in my life. When I stick with it,<br />
doors open, and I discover more ways to make something I<br />
haven’t seen before.” Lisa also teaches occasional encaustic<br />
classes at Racine’s in Fort Bragg.<br />
Paris Map, 9"x12", textured encaustic on panel.<br />
Lisa is a member of the <strong>Art</strong>ists’ Co-op of <strong>Mendocino</strong>,<br />
upstairs at the west end of Main Street, where doing the<br />
gallery payroll makes her think about the business of art.<br />
“What little business sense I have tells me that most artists<br />
work out of devotion to our medium and some kind of<br />
hope that someone will see our work, appreciate it, and<br />
possibly even buy.<br />
“In yoga terms, I see that my work comes in cycles. I<br />
just finished a flurry of work to fill my wall at the gallery.<br />
This weekend I’m assisting Rodney Yee, who is teaching<br />
at the Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco… and<br />
I’m working through another intensive yoga program<br />
with a teacher in New Mexico. Being pulled in so many<br />
directions means that my time for art bounces around.<br />
The constant is that I am always grateful when I get to<br />
my studio. I am so happy when the wax melts and I can<br />
continue the adventure.”<br />
Lisa Orselli in her studio. Larry Wagner photos.<br />
Spring 2012 9
MAC <strong>Art</strong>ists in Residencep<br />
By K. Andarin Arvola<br />
Derek Hambly, director of the Ceramics and <strong>Art</strong>ists in<br />
Residence programs, tells us “the AIR program is over 40<br />
years old. Our artists are usually at a crossroads of professional<br />
development. They are geared toward goals such as<br />
preparing for studies for a post-bachelor or MFA program,<br />
or to developing a body of work for exhibition purposes. We<br />
cater to this, more so than treating this opportunity as a<br />
retreat. We’re extremely interested in artists who are producing<br />
work and contributing to their field/medium at a high<br />
caliber of professionalism.<br />
“As we move forward in the development and refinement<br />
of our campus, our program will become a staple in<br />
the arts for those who are in pursuit of artistic growth.”<br />
Each year the <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Center</strong>’s residency<br />
program culminates with an exhibition of the participating<br />
artists’ works created in the MAC studios. This<br />
year’s exhibit, featuring artists from across the country<br />
as well as from Taiwan and Holland, will be held<br />
April 5–28, with the opening reception on April 14,<br />
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.<br />
p<br />
Charlie Williams<br />
Williams lives in Gainesville, Florida. “I’m interested in the<br />
ever-surprising challenges of sculpting the human figure.<br />
Predominantly representational, my residency project<br />
involves creating solid aluminum and bronze figurative<br />
sculptures. These are produced from concept design to<br />
forging and chasing the final product. All the bronzes were<br />
made by lost wax casting<br />
and the aluminums were<br />
sand/Styrofoam casting.<br />
I work mainly in stone<br />
but also enjoy drawing<br />
and ceramics.”<br />
Charlie Williams<br />
Alicia Reyes McNamara<br />
Originally from Chicago, McNamara says the four years<br />
she spent living in Central America and Europe are her<br />
inspiration. “These memories,<br />
whether embellished, diluted<br />
or sincere, remain as truths in<br />
a history, the fine line between<br />
memory and imagination<br />
within personal mythologies;<br />
my goal is to memorialize<br />
events remembered<br />
. . . Ceramics is a fusion of all<br />
my loves; I can bring everything<br />
in my background (sculpture,<br />
textiles and painting) into Alicia Reyes McNamara<br />
play. I can use textiles through<br />
paper clay slip dipping, painting through glazing and<br />
surface design and sculpture through my figurative forms<br />
and installations.”<br />
Nikki Couppee<br />
“My current work talks about the different functions<br />
jewelry performs in society. It can define social status,<br />
question value and be a redeemable investment. Given<br />
to mark a special occasion, jewelry can perform on a<br />
psychological level with the transference of deep feelings<br />
onto the object. I create opulent jewelry reminiscent of<br />
royal jewelry but made of quotidian materials instead of<br />
gems and precious metals . . . I insert an element of decay;<br />
by allowing the mild steel to rust naturally against the<br />
stainless, thereby adding a layer of impermanence which<br />
challenges market value and forces one to reflect on its<br />
potential changes over time.”<br />
Saskia Konig<br />
“I was born in the Netherlands and became fascinated by<br />
Belgian Blue stone. This material reveals hidden treasures<br />
from millions of years ago: fossils of shells, little sea animals<br />
and plants. My leading theme was water: streaming,<br />
10 <strong>Mendocino</strong> <strong>Art</strong>s Magazine
flowing water of river and sea; water as a symbol of life.<br />
Last year, due to our removal to the forest, trees<br />
became my chief theme: their meaning and connection<br />
with people. For me they are creatures with experiences<br />
and memories; that is what my tree sculptures represent.”<br />
Wei Jane Chir<br />
Wei Jane Chir presents in a left-to-right long scroll, a slow,<br />
river-like narrative titled “One’s Special Tea.” The scroll<br />
includes ten ancient Chinese pictures and introduces the<br />
different teas, linked by theme. Photography is used to<br />
integrate the artist’s own woodcut. “Drinking, collecting,<br />
and growing my own tea was a personal hobby. I took my<br />
wood block print work and used a modern medium to<br />
bring tea into the digital age. It’s not only my own special<br />
tea book, but the special tea book of many people.”<br />
Jazmyn Azure<br />
“I combine ceramics and photographic imagery on sculptural<br />
forms to express my reflections of social, economic<br />
and political trends. Through the manipulation of earth,<br />
fire, color and imagery, my intent is to provide a more<br />
journalistic and neutral perspective that may open the<br />
viewer to discovering their own point of view. After<br />
extensively researching and evaluating topics, I utilize<br />
social interaction to compile a multitude of perspectives<br />
around a single idea.”<br />
Deborah Fell<br />
Deborah Fell’s medium is<br />
quilting. “As I studied the<br />
surrounding beauty of the<br />
<strong>Mendocino</strong> coast, it felt as if<br />
I were witnessing conversations<br />
everywhere . . .<br />
between the cliffs crashing<br />
against the waves, the sun<br />
setting in the distance, the<br />
dance of tiny beauty being<br />
Deborah Fell<br />
o<br />
constantly washed ashore.”<br />
Her series is entitled “<strong>Mendocino</strong> Coast Conversations.”<br />
Once that concept solidified, “the painting, images and<br />
design components overflowed.” She included text to<br />
bring in a strong design component as well as emphasizing<br />
the interactive coastal conversations and allowing the<br />
“conversations” to become tangible.<br />
Tim Ayers<br />
Ayer’s work is a union of slip<br />
cast, an historically industrial<br />
technique, and the tradition of<br />
wood fire. The marks of wood<br />
firing are unlike any glaze or<br />
brush stroke; wood embers and<br />
fly ash melt and drip, salt fluxes<br />
the silica present in the clay.<br />
Flame causes the clay body to<br />
flash in a beautifully irregu-<br />
Tim Ayers<br />
lar fashion. “I create ceramics<br />
that reflect the control and the<br />
sophistication of modern industry, yet through atmospheric<br />
firing, my art still resonates with the chance and<br />
irregularity of nature.”<br />
Hannah Plotke<br />
“These recent works are about the idea of bedazzling<br />
something to death, the way a little girl holds a puppy<br />
too tightly. A reverse elitism in cahoots with mainstream<br />
culture; the viewers are complicit in their own kitschiness.<br />
I include figures and portraiture, pattern, objects and<br />
adornment, contemporary artifacts, clothing, jewelry and<br />
artwork to create a quilt-like environment, a snapshot of<br />
a psychological, personal and visceral state of mind. The<br />
pattern serves as a way to talk about design, advertisement<br />
and tapestry in a metaphorical sense; and to relay a<br />
feminist perspective.”<br />
Spring 2012 11